Walks through Spain, Italy and other places

Water Fountains along the Via Romea Germanica

Walking along the Via Romea Germanica in April and May of 2018, I encountered some quite warm and humid weather. I was carrying 2 litres of water which wasn’t enough for me to last a whole day’s walking .

Fortunately, water fountains are reasonably common in both Austria and Italy. I encountered an interesting range of styles of fountain along my walk adding to its interest as well as allowing top ups of my water bottles.

‘Oh traveller who passes by, stop and salute Mary’s picture
You, fountain, are old and broken, but I want to fix ya .’

Sabatini Celli September 1998

Ficulle boasts a very old fountain built into a wall.

Some villages still have their communal wash houses although they are usually signed as not drinklable.

Campagnano di Roma has an impressive fountain.

The fountain is often the centre piece of a small town’s main piazza, such as this one in Sutri. This ancient town was at one stage Etruscan and was called Sutrium by the Romans.

On the outskirts of Rome I came across my first standard Roman fountain. It was a bit the worse for wear but still functioning. This style is called a “nasone’ or big nose and usually fed from mountain springs often using at least in part ancient Roman acqueducts.

The drought of 2017, combined with a very leaky distribution system due to prolonged lack on maintenance led to the temporary shut down of Rome’s fountains

Vatican City has very posh marble fountains for thirsty pilgrims.

All the fountains of Rome such as this one in Piazza Navone were originally fed by aqueducts but now also use recycled water.

They do need cleaning from time to time and of course the coins have to be collected. This is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers. The continents known at the time are represented by the Danube, Nile, Ganges and the Rio de la Plata.